Dogs - stop or escape?

[Andrew_Culture]

If I'm riding and a dog comes running after me I stop, but I'm starting to think a swift escape might be a better plan.

The logic for stopping is that I don't want the dog to kill itself in my rear mech, and I don't currently try and outrun the canine as I'm an unfit fat knacker and also don't want to give the dog 'game'. That being said no big dogs have chased me yet...

So dogs eh? What dooo you do?



p.s FENTON!

 

[DCLane]

Pedal harder!

And anyway, it'd help you burn more calories

 

[Andrew_P]

At the top end of a long slight climb whilst feeling tired and slowing, I heard a deep growling/barking to my left glanced over and a Mastif looking dog was just about shaping to come after me, according to Garmin my speed and my HR leapt up massively, amazing what fear can drive you on to do. All sorts was running through my mind including shoot I am clipped in the fecker will be able to take chunks out of my calf at will. There was never a thought in my mind to stop and communicate with the hound my instinct was to pedal and pedal fast!

If I could remember the date I would love to show the HR and speed graph never knew if he came after me as 300-400yards later there is a 1 mile downhill so once over the peak I knew I was safe!

 

[Arch]

Carry a polo mallet...

I think for me, it would depend on the dog. A serious snarly chase, and I'd be trying to get away. Something frisking about getting in my way, I'd stop, as much for my self preservation as anything, in case I came off. I think (although I'm not expert at all), that a dog protecting it's territory (one that runs out of a gate for example) will stop when it feels it's seen you off. When I've been on the recumbent trike, perversely, somehow I've felt safer, because although I'm nearer dog mouth height, I know that if it came to it, I could run into it without hurting myself falling off.

It's also good to develop a hearty bellow of 'NO!' or 'DOWN!' for these situations, in case it works.

The first edition of Richard's Bicycle Book famously contains a description of how to kill a dog, if necessary, edited out of later editions.

 

[Andrew_Culture]

Cheers all, a lot of this comes down to never having lived with a dog - I bear them no mallace though.

 

[Hacienda71]

Shout sit at them as a loudly as you can. If that doesn't work you may want to get the bike between you and the dog. Try not to appear scared. Also if a dog is going to chase you they can run at 40mph, so unless you are cav you won't outpace a determined mut.

 

[Andrew_Culture]

I shouted at a dog that was getting angry with me once and the owner went all 'how dare you' batshit crazy.

Still... there's no accounting for the mindless minority, they horribly queer the logic curve

 

[Andrew_P]

Shout sit at them as a loudly as you can. If that doesn't work you may want to get the bike between you and the dog. Try not to appear scared. Also if a dog is going to chase you they can run at 40mph, so unless you are cav you won't outpace a determined mut.

I guess he never did come after me then! I have lived with Dogs big and small but there was a definte fear, I Googled it when I got in to work and it is fairly common.

 

[biggs682]

i got chased by a yorkie the other morning when i was going along cycle path gently as doing testing miles , i was surprised how long it it stayed close , tempted to get off and give it a kick

 

[Crackle]

If you've never had a dog it's difficult to read their intentions, most are benign, so start at that premise, nuisance possibly but benign. Look at the dog sure but look at the owner too. Looking at the owner will tell you just as much if not more.

I have a dog but sometimes you can't tell. I was out running on the beach the other day when a big capable looking Doberman came sprinting towards me. I could not tell what it's intentions were so I looked at the owner. He was looking at me with a slight smile, saying 'evening' and looked unconcerned at his dog's approach. I therefore kept running and sure enough at the last second, said dog gave a big playful bounce and started running with me, half treading on my heels as he did before turning and running off.

Now personally I would never let my dog approach a runner or a cyclist at all but we are all different. I also normally run with him, as one of his jobs is to divert interested mutts away from me, which he does very well but he was ill that day.

 

[Doseone]

99.9%* of dogs won't attack. They may look nasty and scare you, but they won't actually bite. The problem is knowing which one is the 0.1% that is going to have a proper pop at you. If you "know" dogs you can normally get a pretty good feel for it, but not always. Crackle's approach above is very sensible, and also shows it's not always the big dogs that are the problem.

A proper dog attack can be very nasty especially if there is more than one dog. Emma (sorry, cant remember her CChat name) recently blogged on here and CGOAB about the dog attack that happened to them in Turkey. Really scary stuff.

* not scientific, just my gut feel.

 

[Andrew_Culture]

It hadn't occurred to me to gauge the impending interaction by the owners' expression. Thanks!

 

[musa]

Umm yh most dogs just chase not malicious however give warning at least 3 times and get off the bike and for the fecker a swipe of the back wheel

Disclaimer shout the warning at the owner then nothing can followed.

 

[Noodley]

If there is an owner apparent, ride really fast and aggressively at them, shouting "banzai!!!" - and gauge from their expression whether they are scared!

 

[Rickshaw Phil]

Funnily enough I've posted about this on another thread this morning.

I tend to get chased fairly often and find that the vast majority of dogs (even the big ones) are just playing; you are a moving object, therefore it is fun to chase you.

My tactic is to slow and speak to the dog in a gentle voice. Since this is not the response they expect, they tend to end the chase quite quickly. Slowing right down or stopping tends to work for the same reason but I rarely have to try a second tactic.

I personally wouldn't recommend shouting at the dog as they think it's part of the game and it tends to encourage them. Definitely don't kick out at them as this is likely to lead to a bite.

Of course it helps that I have a couple of dogs at home and living with them you get to know the difference between a bark that means "I want to play" and one that means "I'm going to rip your head off and spit down your neck".